


Betrayal

by mostlylapidotandstuff



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: And also about Homeworld, And they have to get out, Angst, Anyway now that the warnings are out of the way, Both about fusions and about Peridot, Comments appreciated, Do not read if you do not want character death, F/F, I could add more tags but I don't want to spoil stuff, Lots of Angst, Not A Happy Ending, Suicide, That's basically what's going on, There might be more warnings but those are the major ones, They're in a homeworld jail, lots of headcanons, major major major character death, some violence but not really graphic, two character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-18 06:11:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 10,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11285319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mostlylapidotandstuff/pseuds/mostlylapidotandstuff
Summary: The gems find themselves in a Homeworld prison that seems to be designed specifically to trap them. After Pearl disappears in front of them, they realize they have to work quickly to escape the prison before it's too late. Ruby and Sapphire have to deal with being unable to fuse, Amethyst is being forced to fight, Pearl must work as a servant, no one is sure what is happening with Steven, and Lapis? Lapis has to deal with the fact that Peridot landed all of them there.sorry I'm bad at summaries





	1. The Anti-Fusion Cell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Ruby reforms with a throbbing headache, she is shocked to find that she cannot fuse with Sapphire. After finding Lapis, Pearl, and Steven, they realize they are in some sort of prison. Then a message from the intercom shocks all of them.

Her head was full of a pounding, throbbing pain. Someone was calling her name, or at least she thought it was her name, but she didn’t want to concentrate on the sound right now. She pressed her eyes more tightly shut and touched her palm to her forehead. That’s when she realized what was wrong: Sapphire was gone.

Ruby leapt to her feet. “Sapphire!” she screamed, searching the dark, empty cell and wishing she had future vision.

“Ruby, I’m right here,” Sapphire sighed in relief from behind Ruby. The two embraced, then waited for the familiar feeling of becoming Garnet.

It didn’t come. The two of them remained separate.

“What’s going on?” Ruby asked, confused.

“I don’t know. Perhaps we should try dancing?”

They had never needed to dance since fusing during the war, but they figured it would be worth a shot. Their non-gem hands grasped each other. Ruby put her left hand around Sapphire’s waist and Sapphire laid her right hand on Ruby’s shoulder. Circling around each other, they danced. Again, nothing happened.

“I don’t understand!” Sapphire was beginning to freeze up. Literally.

Ruby scooped up Sapphire and began to warm her up. “I don’t either. Where are we?”

Sapphire scanned the room. There were four walls, all dark. Sweeping her bangs off of her eye, she gestured at faint writing on the far wall. “Shine some light on that.”

Ruby raised her hand with her gem and shone light onto it. “It says,” she began, then gasped, “‘Anti-Fusion Cell.’”

“We must be in a Homeworld jail, then,” Sapphire reasoned, covering her eye again. “The others must be nearby.”

A sound came from their right. They swiveled around and saw a blue glow: Lapis Lazuli reforming. She tensed for a moment, then looked confused.

“Lapis!” Ruby called, running towards her. “Are you okay?”

“Don’t be so loud,” Sapphire cautioned, following. Both of them stopped when they came to a transparent barrier separating them from Lapis’s cell.

“Ruby? Sapphire? Why are you apart?” Lapis turned around.

“We can’t fuse,” Sapphire explained. “Our cell is designed to prevent fusion.”

“Oh. That explains it.” Lapis’s shoulders slumped.

“Explains what?” Ruby asked.

“I can’t summon my water wings.” Lapis gestured at her gem.

“Odd. I can still create ice.” Sapphire indicated the pile of ice she had formed earlier.

Ruby summoned her gauntlet. “Our weapons weren’t affected.”

“Maybe each cell is specially designed,” Lapis speculated. “Each has different limitations.”

“So where are the others?” Ruby looked around, shining light from her gem again.

“Is that Pearl?” Sapphire noted a pale form just past the far wall.

“Go see,” Lapis suggested, withdrawing to the back of her own cell.

Ruby and Sapphire headed over and found Pearl standing stiffly in the center of her cell, head bowed and arms in a diamond salute. She wore a standard White Pearl uniform, a leotard and skirt, rather than her old outfit.

“Pearl!” Ruby yelled. Pearl didn’t respond. “Are you okay?” she screamed, a bit louder.

Pearl tilted her head slightly, stiffened, then returned to her normal position.

“She’s being trained,” Sapphire gasped, her voice barely a whisper.

“Trained?”

“You must have forgotten by now. All Pearls are tested for obedience immediately. Most past the test, and the ones that don’t are either shattered quickly or trained vigorously. The diamonds must have decided that Pearl would be more useful if they trained her. They will likely use her as a bargaining chip.”

Ruby was silent for a moment. Then she lifted her palm again. “Let’s find Peridot, Amethyst, and Steven.”

“I believe Steven is over there.” Sapphire pointed to one of the other bordering cells. “He appears to be unconscious. It is unlikely that we can do anything for him.”

Ruby turned to the final cell, deciding to agree with Sapphire, and shone light within. “Is it empty?”

“It appears that it is,” Sapphire agreed.

“Where’s Amethyst?”

“Perhaps she is on the far side of one of these other cells.”

“I guess,” Ruby agreed.

Behind them, Steven shifted, waking. “Huh? Where am I?” he mumbled.

“Steven!” Ruby called. She began to explain when a voice cut them off.

“I see all of you have awakened. A very warm welcome,” it snickered slightly, “to Homeworld’s finest prison: the Rebel Unit.”

“That sounds like Peridot,” Ruby gasped.

“Prisoners, be silent. This is Peridot Facet 2F5L Cut 5XL. So not ‘your’ Peridot, although she will definitely have some words for you later on.” The Peridot snickered again. “I suppose you are wondering how you all ended up here. All will be revealed in due time. For now, simply know that soon, you will all meet the fates that have been waiting you for some time. And the one who exposed you will be rewarded spectacularly. Oh, she should be there now!” The voice vanished.

A light shone between the cells, illuminating the silhouette of Peridot, sporting a new set of limb enhancers.

“Peridot?” Lapis gasped. “Is that true?”

Peridot’s face was in shadow, hiding her expression as she replied, “Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep Peridot betrayed them. Hence the title. Why did she do it? All will be revealed in due time. Also should I do daily updates or weekly updates? There's going to be 13 chapters total.


	2. Quartz Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the other gems are trying to break out of jail, Amethyst is being forced to fight.

Amethyst fell to the ground, sweat running down her face and mingling with her tears. “Haven’t I done enough?” she gasped.

“Get up,” commanded Blue Lace Agate. Amethyst struggled to her feet and saluted. “Now complete the task.”

Amethyst braced herself, took a deep breath, and summoned her whip again. Closing her eyes, she sent waves of purple energy down the lash and spin dashed into the target. Stone rained down around her. She opened her eyes, which quickly filled with tears once more as they settled on the polished fake Rose Quartz gem.

“Excellent. You are ready to advance to the next level.”

Amethyst rose to her feet again. She was exhausted, hungry, and scared of what the next level would bring, but she had learned early on in the training that it was best not to question Blue Lace Agate. The harsh gem had scoffed at the idea of a gem sleeping or eating and had refused to provide any details of what future training would entail. Amethyst bowed her head and simply saluted.

“Pearl!” Blue Lace Agate barked. There was no response. “Pearl! Do you wish to be shattered?”

“Coming,” grumbled a voice from outside the door. Moments later, the door swung open, and a dark blue Pearl with her gem on her left eye entered, holding a large jar.

“Pearl,” Blue Lace Agate sighed in exasperation, “must you be put through training again?”

The Pearl stiffened. “No, ma’am.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Now, I trust that you have the proper supplies?”

“Yes, ma’am.” The Pearl laid the jar down, drew out three bubbles, and passed them to Blue Lace Agate. Then she returned to the wall and stood, maintaining the diamond salute.

Blue Lace Agate directed her attention back to Amethyst, who was trying and failing to take a quick nap. “You have passed all stone targets wonderfully. Now, your tasks will be closer to actual battle. In these bubbles are three fusion experiments. You must take each of them down. And if she is not careful,” Blue Lace Agate turned sharply to the Pearl, who had dropped the salute and appeared to be dozing off, “then you will attack this insolent Pearl as well.”

The Pearl quickly leapt back into place and saluted once more.

Blue Lace Agate held the first bubble. “We will start easy. This one includes fragments of, hmm, Nephrite, Tourmaline, Chrysocolla, Citrine, and Emerald. Should have no sentimental value. Be prepared, though, it will fight back.”

Amethyst readied her whip and watched as the bubble popped. Immediately, a grotesque array of arms and feet sprouted from the center, and the creature began to run about the room. Amethyst spin dashed at it, quickly poofed it with her whip, and bubbled the gem once more.

“Very good.” Blue Lace Agate held the next. “This one includes Lepidolite, Aquamarine, Topaz, Carnelian, Jasper, and Peridot.” She smirked. “Hope it doesn’t bring back too many memories.”

Amethyst readied herself once more. She had never known any of these gems, so it shouldn’t have been too hard. Perhaps it would be harder for a different, older Crystal Gem, but she was prepared. The monster formed and Amethyst easily took it down. Bubbling it as well, she turned it so that the green glint was on the other side.

“Excellent.” Blue Lace Agate had a dangerous gleam in her eyes. “I hope you are prepared. This one here has at least three Rubies, one Rose Quartz, one Amethyst, a Pearl, and a Sapphire. Such a shame that we lost two Sapphires in the aftermath of the war, but sometimes these sacrifices need to be made.”

Amethyst closed her eyes. She reminded herself that these were not the Crystal Gems. This was a monster made from entirely different beings. But part of her mind wondered: did she know for sure that they hadn’t captured and shattered the others? This moment of hesitation costed her. Her eyes flew open, but only after the creature had torn a bite out of her top. Wincing, she struck it with her whip. It preserved.

Sweat dripped into her eyes. She ignored it and struck the beast again. It backed up, and Amethyst hoped that this was a sign of submission. Then it leapt towards her, jumping several feet into the air. Her vision blurred from exhaustion, and for a second, she thought she saw Rose Quartz.

Then the creature landed, and the spell was broken. Amethyst shut her eyes as she had with the Rose Quartz statue. Using her instincts rather than her senses, she electrocuted the monster, and felt for the gemstone on the chest, tightening her grip around it. It cut into her hand, and then it poofed. She halfheartedly bubbled it before falling to the floor.

Blue Lace Agate hovered over her, tisking in disapproval. “I thought you were making progress, I really did.”

“Let me rest,” Amethyst gasped, hastily and belatedly adding in a salute. “My performance will improve greatly.”

“I suppose that could be arranged,” Blue Lace Agate replied. Then her tone changed entirely. “If that rest were to be inside your gem. In which case, it would be considered a failure. Quartz soldiers do not simply rest. On to the next test. Pearl!” Turning back to Amethyst, she added, “I suppose you may ‘rest’ until my insolent defect returns with the proper materials.”

Amethyst barely managed to thank her before passing out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going with daily updates for now I guess, probably won't be at a consistent time of day though


	3. Breaking Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gems begin to break out of their cells. Halfway through, Pearl disappears, and they realize they need to work quickly.

“Peridot, why did you do it?” asked Pearl before wincing and returning to training position.

“I had to.” Peridot’s face was completely blank and devoid of emotion.

“What did they do to you?” Lapis whispered.

Peridot slowly walked away from the cells without looking back.

“So what do we do now?” Steven asked, speaking up for the first time since regaining consciousness.

Lapis’s features hardened. “We figure out how to escape.”

“Maybe the cells are like the hand ship,” Steven suggested. “And they only keep in full gems.”

“Whoever designed this prison is too smart for that,” Sapphire replied, glancing towards the door Peridot had used to exit. “Each cell was specifically designed to trap one of us.”

“I say we figure out how to switch cells. Then we can punch our way out of here together!” Ruby flexed her left arm and summoned her gauntlet again.

“First, we should free Pearl. Then she can help the rest of us get out!” Steven looked hopeful.

“How can we free Pearl if she’s trapped in place?” Lapis had returned to staring at the floor.

“Then we should get Garnet back.” Steven sounded determined.

“I agree.” Ruby wrapped her right arm around Sapphire, pulling the two of them closer together. 

“You two would need to leave your cell,” Lapis commented. “And we determined that that would be impossible.”

“I’m sure there’s a way,” Steven replied. “Maybe Ruby can punch her way into a different cell!”

“Try the empty one.” Sapphire indicated the one across from Steven. “The other ones would still limit us.”

“Shouldn't you determine what that cell is first?” Lapis called, though Ruby had already begun to punch.

Sapphire examined the room through the wall. Through sparks from Ruby’s punches, she read the words on the other side: “Quartz Waiting Room.”

“Wait a second, where's Amethyst?” asked Steven. The cells grew quiet.

“She was probably already shattered,” Lapis remarked. “What can Homeworld do with a deep cut like her?”

“They would have shattered Pearl as well, if they were taking out defects.” Sapphire froze.

“Why haven’t they just shattered all of us?” Ruby asked, resuming her punching.

Sapphire’s skirt was now completely frozen to the ground. “My future vision--I can’t see--”

“But Ruby's gauntlet still works,” Steven observed.

“We don’t know how this technology works,” Lapis concluded. “Perhaps it would be best to wait for one of the Peridots to return.”

“We can’t just wait and listen to them!” Steven’s eyes began to fill with tears. “That’s what you wanted to do last time Peridot trapped us, and we saw how well that worked out!”

“If you and your friends hadn’t fought Peridot and Jasper, we could have--”

“--we would have ended up in a jail like this one!”

“You were only delaying the inevitable. We are all going to be shattered anyway.”

“Not if we can break out!”

“You are not listening to anything I’m saying.”

“You’re not listening to me, either!”

“Be quiet, you two!” Ruby slammed her fist against the wall. 

As they fell silent, a clicking sound came from Pearl’s cell, which they had not been giving as much attention. The floor where Pearl was standing began to slowly sink into the ground. Pearl tried to flee, but was snapped back by an invisible chain. She fell to her knees and disappeared from view. 

“Maybe that’s what happened to Amethyst,” Steven suggested.

“Which means that if I can get into this cell, we can escape through the floor!” Ruby punched the wall harder.

“We don’t know where the passage would lead,” Lapis cautioned.

“I don’t care,” Ruby grumbled, continuing to strike the wall.

Sapphire laid a hand on Ruby’s arm. “Maybe we should try combining our powers.” She laid a hand on the wall and formed frost on the surface. “Maybe that will be weaker.”

Ruby punched harder and cracks began to form. “Sapphy, you’re a genius!” She grinned.

“Oh, don’t flatter me,” Sapphire replied, blushing. “Now let’s focus. Maybe if you heat the wall up that would help.”

Ruby pelted a fireball at the glass. It began to melt. She pulled it apart and climbed through. “Freeze the hole open,” she suggested.

Sapphire froze the edges and climbed in. The two laughed and spun around until they fused into Garnet once again.

“Yay!” Steven cheered. “Garnet’s back!”

Garnet summoned her visor and grinned. “Garnet’s back.”

“I don’t mean to ruin the mood,” Lapis cut in, “but how are you going to free us?”

“What do you mean?” Steven asked. “She can just punch through all the cells.”

“She can’t get to our cells without passing through the anti-fusion zone, so she’ll have to unfuse,” Lapis began. “My cell would stop either Sapphire’s ice powers, Ruby’s gauntlet, or both. There’s no telling what your cell would do to them.”

“She can still try!” Steven interjected.

“Stop right there, prisoners!” screeched the intercom.


	4. Facet 2F5L Cut 5XG

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why did Peridot betray all of them? Nope, not revealing that yet. But this is what she's been doing.

“The fusion escaped.” Peridot Facet 2F5L Cut 5XL bowed her head, ashamed.

“What?” spluttered Fire Agate.

“The fusion escaped,” 5XL repeated. “It is now in the Quartz Waiting Room.”

“I imagine this will be dealt with,” Fire Agate commanded, “IMMEDIATELY!”

“Yes, ma’am.” 5XL shuffled off.

Bursting through a door, her demeanor changed instantly. Now she was the one yelling at Peridot Facet 2F5L Cut 5XG, “The fusion escaped! You must take care of this situation. You have experience with gem destabilizers, correct?”

“Correct.” 5XG gulped.

“Separate the Sapphire and the Ruby. Move the Sapphire to a cell preventing future vision. All others may remain as they are.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Now go, before they make further progress towards escape!”

5XG hurried down to the prison, destabilizer in hand. She slowly opened the door, careful not to draw attention to herself. The fusion stood, frozen, in the Quartz Waiting Room. As it turned towards 5XG, she leapt out and caught it, bringing the destabilizer up to its chest.

“I trust there will be no more escape attempts?”

“Peridot,” whispered the fusion.

5XG’s eyes hardened. “Facet 2F5L Cut 5XG.” She stabbed its chest, splitting and poofing it immediately. She tossed the red gem through the hole in the cell wall, then fixed it with her limb enhancers. Then she hurried to the future vision limitation room, opened the door, and tossed the blue gem in. Before leaving, she ran a quick equipment check, patching up any holes her limb enhancers sensed. It felt good to be in power again.

“Peridot, what did they do to you?” asked the Lapis Lazuli.

“Silence in the cells,” was 5XG’s only reply. She briskly headed out of the prison.

“The matter has been dealt with,” 5XG reported.

5XL burst back out of the door and saluted Fire Agate. “The matter has been dealt with. The fusion has been split and its components separated. This should not happen again.”

“This will not happen again,” Fire Agate corrected. “UNDERSTOOD?”

“Yes, ma’am.” 5XL returned to the Peridot quarters. “Fire Agate is pleased with your actions. However, if this mistake is repeated, the consequences will be severe and unimaginable.”

5XG nodded in acknowledgement. “This will not happen again.” 5XG idly pulled up the security footage on her screen. The Sapphire and the Ruby had reformed. The Sapphire was sitting calmly in her cell, but the Ruby appeared to be having a temper tantrum. 5XG was thankful security footage automatically came without volume. She didn’t want to be forced to listen to the babblings of such a low gem as a common foot soldier, composed of only muscle and no brains.

Having had enough of the rebels, 5XG switched back to a more useful task. For some time, she focused on listening to reports from other Peridots on various assignments on other planets. It had been less than two years since she was part of Homeworld, but that had still been long enough to miss some developments. She wondered how long it would be until she was given an official assignment. Perhaps once the rebels were taken care of once and for all.

Her visor was beginning to dig into the side of her head. While it was certainly better from the one she had had before from a technological standpoint, and definitely an improvement from the prototype, it hadn’t fully molded to her face yet, and she wanted to take it off and adjust it. She reached up a hand.

“Stop!” 5XL hurried over. “I didn’t think you would have forgotten one of the most central rules for Peridots. The visor must never be removed in the presence of others.”

5XG furrowed her brow. “I don’t think that was a rule before.”

5XL stared into 5XG’s eyes. “Your memory is flawed. Think harder.”

Thinking back, 5XG realized she did remember that rule. In fact, she soon couldn’t believe that she had ever forgotten about it. Every Peridot had a guilty story of removing their visor for the first time on a different planet, then quickly replacing it for fear that another gem was near and they would get caught.

“I’m sorry, you are correct,” 5XG apologized. “My memory was flawed. But I remember now.”

“Good. Let us hope that you do not make any graver mistakes in the future.”

“I will try my best.”

“Your best may not be good enough. The Diamonds do not show mercy for what you may see as a simple mistake.”

“I understand.”

“Now carry on. You shall receive your assignment soon.”


	5. More Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having leveled up, Amethyst is now fighting actual gems. First off: A trio of Pearls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Green Pearl's gem is on her belly. Interpret that however you'd like.

“For this level, you will be fighting ordinary gems,” Blue Lace Agate announced.

Amethyst opened her eyes. In front of her were three Pearls: Navy, Green, and-

“Pearl!” Amethyst called weakly.

“Silence!” Blue Lace Agate commanded. “These Pearls look innocent enough. But you will need to learn that any gems can be traitorous. For this exercise, consider the Pearls to be ordinary citizens. You will hear their treasonous conversations, and then you will stop them. As these are not actual traitors–besides that one, but she is being trained–you are to only poof them, without shattering. Let the exercise begin.” Blue Lace Agate snapped her fingers. The room shifted so that it resembled the outside of Homeworld. 

Green and Navy Pearl switched into gear immediately, former Crystal Gem Pearl taking a bit longer. They began to innocently chat about upcoming events when Green suddenly began to talk about the Diamonds.

“Oh, Yellow Diamond!” Green Pearl sighed. “She is the most admirable of the diamonds, don’t you agree?”

“Be careful,” Navy warned. “We are loyal to Blue Diamond.”

“But Yellow Diamond is so much stronger and so much more powerful! I wish I worked for Yellow Diamond instead.”

Amethyst gritted her teeth and ran forward, whip at the ready.

“No! Please don’t hurt me,” begged Green Pearl, the other Pearls scattering. Green Pearl’s eyes began to fill with tears, and her lower lip trembled. She placed her arms over her stomach to shield her gem.

Amethyst hesitated. Would she really be forced to execute innocent gems? Her arms shaking, she lowered her whip and her voice. “I-I guess I can let you get away with this once. But-but if it happens again,” she gulped, “you will regret it!”

“No,” Green Pearl replied, suddenly calm. “You will regret it.” She quickly pulled what looked like a gem destabilizer out of her gem and stabbed Amethyst with it.

Amethyst felt full of electricity. Everything was shaking. Ordinarily, she would have retreated into her gem, but in this room, that was impossible.

Blue Lace Agate walked over and scolded Amethyst. “You cannot trust any traitors! They will deceive you, try to make themselves seem innocent. Had it not been for the magic of this room, you would have been poofed and rendered useless. As it is, you must continue until you successfully complete the level. Then we will consider allowing you to poof and heal.”

Amethyst nodded, not speaking. They redid the simulation, and this time, Amethyst forced herself to attack Green Pearl. As the Pearl poofed, though, she let out a series of wails. Though Amethyst knew this was just acting, it still felt wrong, and the shrieks were stuck in her mind long after the green pearl clattered to the floor. Quickly, she reformed, looking just as innocent as ever.

“Very good!” Blue Lace Agate clapped her hands together. “Now, you shall attack all of them at once!”

The scenario restarted. Amethyst had begun to grow tired of hearing the same lines three times in a row, but she knew her survival depended on paying attention and waiting for the treason. 

This time, however, it played out slightly differently.

“But Yellow Diamond is so much stronger and so much more powerful! I wish I worked for Yellow Diamond instead.” This was no different from Green Pearl’s lines before.

“Me, too,” Crystal Pearl replied, something which had never happened before. “I wish we had a leader who didn’t burst into tears so often!”

Amethyst snickered under her breath, thinking back on Pearl’s tears for Rose, then quickly tensed when Blue Lace Agate looked over. Laughing could mean shattering if she wasn’t careful. This, to Homeworld, was a very serious situation.

“Don’t you admire Yellow Diamond a little?” asked Green Pearl.

Navy Pearl scanned the area. In this scenario, Amethyst was hidden behind a boulder. She leaned in closer and stage whispered, “I wish we worked for her too!” Then she gasped and covered her mouth.

Amethyst lunged out from behind the boulder. “Stop, traitors!”

All the Pearls screamed. Green Pearl began to whimper, so Amethyst struck her down first, through pangs of guilt. Then she lunged for Navy Pearl and took her down as well. Crystal Pearl, however, had already fled, and Amethyst couldn’t spot her even if she tried. 

“You have failed.” Blue Lace Agate stared at Amethyst, face cold. “You must be quicker and more observant. Use both whips. Restart!” She snapped her fingers.

The simulation restarted. This time, all Pearls were traitorous as before. Amethyst used both whips as she was told and took out Navy and Green at the same time. Then she turned and found that Crystal Pearl hadn’t fled as fast; she was still visible in the rocks. Amethyst chased after her and brought up her whip.

It met a spear. Pearl’s eyes were full of regret as she blocked Amethyst’s attempts, tearing through the whip and finally, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes, plunging her spear through Amethyst’s chest, just past her gem.

Amethyst was in agony. She looked at Pearl in pain, tears streaming from her eyes. Pearl began to sob as well, but both remained silent for fear of getting caught.

It was too late. “You have both failed!” cried Blue Lace Agate. “Amethyst, you failed to catch her, and Pearl, you are not permitted to fight back! Pearls are not allowed to have weapons!”

Pearl bowed her head. “I’m sorry–”

“Sorry isn’t good enough! Must we return both of you to the preliminary cells?” Pearl began to speak, but Blue Lace Agate raised a hand. “No. I don’t want to hear it. You two will be–”

Suddenly, alarms rang through the room. The poofed Pearls quickly reformed. “The Crystal Gems have broken out!” screamed one of the Peridots over the intercom.

Blue Lace Agate narrowed her eyes. “They will not escape this prison.”


	6. Giant Water Woman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis and Sapphire come up with a plan to escape.

“Lapis, are you okay?” Steven asked.

“I’m fine.” Lapis withdrew further into her curled up position against the wall.

“HRNNGHHGHHHHHHH!” Ruby screamed, body slamming the wall again. “We need to come up with a plan!”

“Ruby, calm down,” Sapphire admonished coldly from another cell. She and Ruby could still see each other, but only through two layers of glass. Ruby had not been taking this well.

“I just want to get out of here,” Ruby screeched, the ground near her feet catching on fire, “so we can be together again!”

“It’s too dangerous,” Lapis muttered. “If they can turn Peridot against us, they can do anything.”

“Can we move on from Peridot?” Ruby complained loudly. “And focus on escape?”

“If Sapphire was Peridot, you would be upset, wouldn’t you?” Lapis retorted.  
“Yeah I would, but I wouldn’t just mope about it! I would actually try to do something!”

“Can you all stop arguing?” Steven interrupted suddenly. “Please.”  
“I’d stop arguing if she stopped moping!”

“I’m not moping!”

“Yeah, you are!”

“No, I’m not!”

“You are!”

“I’m not!”

“Please!” Steven cried. “We need to work together! But let’s come up with an actual plan instead of just yelling at each other and trying to break out with force.”

“I have an idea,” Sapphire announced, voice smooth.

“What is it?” Ruby asked excitedly.

“We do exactly what the two of us did before. I may not have a gauntlet, but I can still punch. My cell only limits my future vision. My ice powers have not been limited at all.”

“So can you free the rest of us?” Steven asked excitedly.

“My ice powers will not work in Lapis’s cell. And we do not know if it is safe to enter Steven’s cell.”

“So you can only reach Lapis?” This made Ruby even angrier. 

“Not necessarily. Lapis and I together may be able to break into your cell. And I could form a hole large enough in Steven’s cell for him to escape.

“When you said together, did you mean…” Lapis trailed off.

“Only if you are comfortable. If not, I can just try the ice method if it works in your cell.”

Steven gasped. “Giant woman?”

Lapis and Sapphire met eyes. Lapis smiled. “Let’s do this.”

Sapphire began to freeze the wall separating her from Lapis. Then she used punched the wall a bit. After a few tries, she paused and let Lapis punch the wall a bit, though Lapis wasn’t as strong without her water powers. They worked as fast as they could, knowing that they didn’t have long before the Peridots noticed their attempts. Finally, they managed to break through.

Lapis and Sapphire met eyes again. Through an unspoken conversation, they agreed that Lapis would come to Sapphire. Ruby grumbled to herself that this meant she would get out last.

The two blue gems faced each other. Slowly, they each began to dance, both smooth like the water of their powers. Watching them, Ruby and Steven both realized that they had never seen Sapphire fuse with someone individually. Ruby made a mental note to ask Sapphire to dance with her instead of just running at her once they were out of danger.

Sapphire leapt into Lapis’s arms and their bodies dissolved into light, their gems darkening. The glowing form grew and changed until it resolved into a tall, four armed fusion with ice-tipped water wings ready.

“Giant woman,” Steven breathed.

The fusion adjusted the visor covering her lower eyes. “That’s Tanzanite. Now stand back, we’re about to bust you out of here.”

Steven backed off and Tanzanite punched the wall, which instantly crumbled under the force of the impact. Steven quickly escaped while Tanzanite climbed into Lapis’s cell. Instantly, her water wings disappeared. She formed a fist.

“Ruby, let’s work together. If we alternate punching the wall, hopefully this will go faster.”

“Fine.” Ruby punched first, gauntlet summoned. Then they alternated for a while until a small gap developed. After they had hammered at it several times, there was finally a hole large enough for Ruby to pass.

As soon as Ruby was in Lapis’s cell, the intercom sounded.

“Prisoners, stop immediately!” screeched one of the Peridots–they all sounded fairly similar. “You cannot escape!”

Tanzanite split quickly and Garnet formed just as fast. The Crystal Gems ran as fast as they could out of there. At first, they all easily stayed together, but as time went on, Steven began to fall back. Lapis picked him up and began to fly with him in her arms. As they sped along, both of them were focused only on escape. Suddenly, they found themselves fused into Iolite. They still had wings, and this meant there was less weight, so they didn’t stop to think about this.

Ahead of them, Garnet shut her eyes for a moment, then gestured down a hallway. “Pearl and Amethyst are that way! But there are also gems being sent to take us down.” She paused for a moment to consider her options, causing Iolite to knock her down.

Garnet got back up immediately, then gasped when she saw Iolite. “You fused!”

“There’s no time to talk about me,” Iolite interrupted. “We need to find a place to hide.”

“Yo. Are you the escaped prisoners?” asked a voice behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly most of my stories are just headcanon dumps... I think chapter 8 is going to be the biggest headcanon dump so stay tuned
> 
> Also I have a gif of Tanzanite fusing, should I post it?


	7. Navy Pearl Does Some Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See chapter title. I'm getting bad at those (and at summaries)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: the first character death, which is also a suicide, is in this chapter

Garnet whirled around and Iolite unfused. Leaning against a wall was a dark blue Pearl, twirling a key ring in one hand and a set of destabilizers in the other. The gems summoned their weapons.

“Whoa there.” The Pearl held up her hands. “I’m not going to report you.”

“You’re not?” Lapis asked skeptically.

“Nope. But someone is about to come along who will. So I suggest you go hide in that room there.” The Pearl gestured at an open door, which her keys presumably unlocked.

“I don’t know if this is a good idea–” Lapis began, but Steven bounded into the room. Garnet shrugged and followed. Lapis sighed and entered the room as well. The lock clicked shut behind them and the Pearl began to project light from her gem, which was located on her left eye.

“I’m probably going to be shattered for this,” she remarked idly, twirling her ring of destabilizers and pinching the “shatter” one between her fingers. “Or worse.”

“There’s worse?” Steven asked.

The already dark light in the room seemed to get more ominous and Navy Pearl’s face hardened as she held up destabilizers labeled “endless agony with no relief,” “cracked gem getting progressively more cracked,” “unbelievable torture,” “repeated poofing,” and finally just, “pain.” Then her face lit up again and the room returned to normal. “Lots of fun! Anyway, the guards should pass here soon, then you’ll be free to go. Good luck on escaping, by the way, you deserve to make it out.”

“You should come with us!” Steven exclaimed.

Navy Pearl shrugged. “Nah. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Nope. But I don’t want to slow you down. Now the coast is clear. Go!”

They snuck out into the hallway again and found that a horde of gems was sweeping the hallway, but they had passed by that hiding spot. Garnet used her future vision to direct them down a hallway, which led them to a room labeled Intensive Quartz Training.

“Here it is.” Garnet reached to open the door, but Lapis stopped her. “We should be careful. There could be a gem on the other side waiting to capture us.”

Garnet stopped, then her shoulders slumped. “You’re right. Let’s find a way to see into the room.”

“There’s a window up there.” Steven pointed at a small piece of glass about 12 feet up.

“I’ll carry you up.” Lapis lifted the other two until they were at the same level as the window. Steven began to float and Garnet held onto the sill.

“You’re never going to find the Crystal Gems!” gasped Navy Pearl. An Agate had her pinned against a wall. 

“Amethyst, this is your job,” snarled the Agate.

“You haven’t taught her how to shatter yet,” replied Navy Pearl coldly. “I think you’re going to want these.” Navy Pearl flashed the destabilizer ring then slipped it inside her gem.

“Pearl!” screeched the Agate. Another Pearl, this one green, stepped forward with a destabilizer. Squinting slightly, Steven saw that it was the one marked “unbelievable torture.”

“Now, tell me where the Crystal Gems went.” The Agate stared into Navy Pearl’s eyes.

“No.”

“Bring me the destabilizers.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Green Pearl stepped forward, but Navy Pearl sent her back with a shockwave rippling out from her eye. 

The Agate gaped at her. “You are not allowed to have powers! Pearl, be faster.”

“No,” replied Navy Pearl, her voice barely loud enough for the Crystal Gems to hear, “I’m going to decide how I go.” She sent another rippling shockwave out.

“Wow, she’s powerful,” whispered Lapis.

“We need to save her!” exclaimed Steven, trying to float through the window. Navy Pearl directed another shock towards the window without turning her head, sending him back outside.

“She knows what she wants,” Garnet murmured.

Navy pulled the destabilizers back out of her gem. Looking at the Agate directly in the eyes, she selected the shattering one and plunged it into her forehead. In seconds, she was gone, replaced by only shards.

“No!” exclaimed Steven before gasping and realizing his mistake.

The Agate pressed an intercom button, her eyes never straying from the window. “Rebels located. Send in 5XG. It is time.”


	8. Flashbacks Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot reflects on the plague and gets interrogated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to The Headcanon Chapter

_Thousands of years earlier_

_At the dawn of the second Era, a plague swept over many Peridots. The Diamonds found that poofing the infected gems mostly cured them. The Diamonds decided to tell the rest of the gems that they had the only cure, which could only be administered while the gem was poofed, rather than telling them the truth. This was to help keep the gems submissive and reliant on them. However, after poofing, the Peridots still were slightly affected. Their limbs were weaker than that of an unaffected gem, and their vision was affected as well. In some cases, basic abilities were affected as well. The Diamonds constructed a lie about Era 2 gems, saying they were running out of materials, and provided limb enhancers and visors for the affected Peridots. They were almost done curing everyone when White Diamond proposed that they save a bit of the disease, in case they ever had to threaten more Peridots into submission. So a vial of microbes was locked away in a vault in White Diamond’s domain, waiting._

_Three days prior to Chapter 1_

Peridot awoke to pain everywhere. She groaned and tried to open her eyes. The pain disappeared immediately. 

Where am I? she wondered. She opened her eyes, but the room was dark. Her arms and legs were limp, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move them. She hadn’t felt like this since the day after she was made.

Bright lights flickered overhead, causing Peridot to instinctively shut her eyes. After a moment, she opened them again. Her vision was blurry, as blurry as it had been when she had woken up that day, which must have been a thousand years ago by now. 

There was only one explanation for all of this, but it couldn’t be true. Homeworld had told all the Peridots that the plague–Fosteritia–was gone. That they had the cure, so no Peridot would ever have to suffer through its pain again.

But what if they had lied?

Peridot figured she was on Homeworld somewhere. She scanned the room, but her eyes hurt too much to try to focus on anything. That was when she realized her visor was gone. So maybe it wasn’t the plague after all.

A green shape approached her, probably another Peridot. This was confirmed when the other gem began to speak.

“Peridot Facet 2F5L Cut 5XG. You must be wondering where you are and why you are here.” The other Peridot paused. Seeing that she had an audience, she continued. “I am Peridot Facet 2F5L Cut 5XL.”

Peridot’s eyes widened in surprise. She had briefly spoken with 5XL before the failed earth mission, but she had never expected them to meet again.

“I see you remember me,” 5XL continued. “Now, you appear to have suffered an unfortunate bout of Fosteritia, but do not worry. We have supplied you with one of the last remaining injections of the cure. However, the cure is dwindling, as it is no longer in production, so we were only able to give you half of the recommended dose. But do not worry. If you cooperate, we can replace your old enhancements to bring you back to a normal level of function.”

“Cooperate?” Peridot asked, her voice scratchy.

“It is to our knowledge that there are four remaining Crystal Gems. Six including the Lapis Lazuli and Jasper who accompanied you to earth. Give us their whereabouts and help us eliminate them, and you will be rewarded.”

“No! They’re my friends, and I can’t betray them!” Peridot attempted to get loose, but all she could move was her head and shoulders. “Well,” she amended, “Jasper isn’t my friend. But she’s poofed and bubbled, and she is still loyal to Homeworld!”

“Excellent,” 5XL noted. “Care to explain how she was poofed and where she is bubbled?”

“No.”

5XL sighed. “Very well.”

Machinery clicked, and again Peridot was filled with pain. She wondered if it was possible for her to force herself to poof. That might cure the plague, but she didn’t know for sure.

“Don’t worry, 5XG, you cannot poof in this room.”

“How?” Peridot gasped through the pain.

“Advanced technology. Too classified for you to know about. It is, however, technology that we intend on modifying to fit each and every one of the rebels.”

The machinery clicked again, and the pain worsened. Tears began to stream from Peridot’s shut eyes, bouncing down her cheeks unrestrained.

“I hope you understand that we can keep you in this much pain forever if necessary,” 5XL remarked from the side. “Just tell us how Jasper was poofed and the pain will stop.”

“Fine! I poofed her after she became corrupted!” The pain disappeared, and Peridot let out a sigh of both relief and despair.

“Very good. Where is her gem stored?”

“I-I don’t know,” she lied. “The gems told me that when a gem is bubbled it goes ‘home.’”

“We can tell when you lie,” 5XL warned.

“She’s in the Burning Room.”

“Now we are getting somewhere. Tell us more about the Burning Room.”

“No.” The pain began again, this time even worse, and Peridot gasped, “Fine. It’s a room in the Crystal Temple. But I don’t know anything about it.”

“Hmm. Have you poofed any other gems?” 5XL paused. “Remember, we can tell when you lie.”

Peridot hesitated, then yelped when the dial was turned a bit. “A gem monster. I don’t know what type. That was the first gem I ever bubbled.”

“Is it in the Burning Room too?”

“Yes.”

“You’re lying.” Peridot gulped as 5XL leaned in closer to look her in the eyes.

Peridot shut her eyes. “It’s in the barn. With Lapis. Lapis Lazuli.”

“Now we are getting somewhere. Tell us more about Lapis.”

“No.” The pain began again, this time even worse, and Peridot gasped, “Fine. But she’s not a real Crystal Gem, so you shouldn’t punish her.”

“She is still a traitor to homeworld. Now, let’s make a deal. There are five traitors, correct?”

“I guess,” Peridot muttered.

“And you require what, five enhancers, correct? One visor, two arms, and two legs?”

“Are you going to make me betray each of them to get my ‘enhancers’ back?”

“Betray? Now, that depends on how you define ‘betray.’ You will be providing a great service to Homeworld. Think about it like that. Now, remind me of the names of the traitors?”

Peridot groaned, but replied, “Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Steven, and Lapis.”

“Excellent. Now, here is a chart to help you remember why your loyalty belongs with Homeworld. The numbers don’t quite work out, but we believe they are close enough.”

Peridot opened her eyes and glanced at 5XL. “I still can’t see.”

“Ah, yes, a minor inconvenience,” 5XL sighed. “Here, you may use an early version of the vision enhancers you used to have until you can be trusted with the newest, most advanced technology.” Peridot closed her eyes as 5XL placed a heavy object on her face, then sealed it in place. Then, as 5XL walked off, Peridot opened her eyes once more.


	9. Flashbacks Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot gets tortured and stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for a description of them hurting her hand, it's relatively vague but it's there

The visor prototype was heavy, bulky, barely translucent, and only roughly adjusted to Peridot’s eyes. Still, it was much better than nothing.

Looking around the room, which appeared warped and a dull green, Peridot noticed quite a few things. First, she saw the dial which had caused the pain. It was directly to her right and appeared innocent enough while turned off. On a shelf beside that rested her old visor, which had broken in half and was chipped around the edges. Still, it would have been better than this. Across the room were racks of limb enhancers. It had been over a year since her limbs had been tossed into the ocean. While she hadn’t missed them in a while, the racks brought back memories.

Right in front of her was the chart. There were five rows and three columns. The first column listed all the gems’ names. The center column listed what Peridot would be given in reward for betraying them. The final column listed punishments if Peridot refused to obey.

Peridot shut her eyes. The visor was giving her a headache.

To get a new, fully functional, and technologically enhanced visor, she would have to betray Lapis. If she refused, she would be painfully blinded forever. Neither prospect seemed particularly pleasant.

For her arms were Amethyst and Garnet. Refusing to betray Amethyst would mean her left hand severed and her arm burned. Not pleasant. Refusing to betray Garnet would mean a mutilated right hand, still there but utterly useless and painful. Slightly less unpleasant, she supposed, but it didn’t give the details, and “mutilated” left a lot to the imagination. She was sure they would choose the most painful option.

Steven and Pearl were the price of her legs. Refusing to betray Steven and Pearl lead to consequences as awful, or worse than, the arm ones.

At the bottom was a note that reminded her that she would live forever: they would never allow her to poof, and they would not shatter her. So if she refused to comply, she would be in pain forever. That was a pleasant thought.

Peridot shut her eyes and attempted to take a nap. That way, she wouldn’t have to think about the choices she would have to make.

Almost as soon as she had shut her eyes, 5XL was back. “5XG, have you made your decision?”

Peridot stared back at 5XL, not speaking.

5XL sighed. “Very well, I suppose we will have to do this the hard way. Tell us about Garnet.”

“No.” The word came out more weakly than Peridot would have liked.

“Very well.” 5XL lifted an unlabeled destabilizer and stabbed Peridot’s right hand. The hand was immediately filled with pain, as if it had bones that were being snapped. “You can stop this,” 5XL murmured, “at any time.” Peridot shook her head and the torture continued. 

Then, when the destabilizer had torn apart her fingers into weak shreds and was beginning to do the same to her hand, Peridot gasped, “Garnet is a fusion! She has been fused since the gem war! She almost never unfuses, even when she stressed.”

5XL lowered the destabilizer. “Very good. Tell me more and your hand will be returned to full health.”

Peridot shut her eyes and began to speak. “Garnet is made of Ruby and Sapphire. Ruby and Sapphire used to serve Blue Diamond. Sapphire has future vision–”

“Yes, yes, we know.” 5XL waved a hand. “That’s what Sapphires are for. Tell us something specific about them. Tell us something that will help us.”

“She hates being split apart. Even if you put Ruby and Sapphire into separate cells, they will still find each other and fuse again. We tried separating them on the failed earth mission. Steven broke them out. So unless you can stop her from fusing, you can’t stop Garnet!”

“Would you say that preventing them from fusing would be the worst way we could punish them?”

“Yes.”

5XL smiled. “Very good, 5XG. Homeworld will appreciate this information.” 5XL placed a cloth around Peridot’s hand, which healed immediately. Then she brought over a right arm enhancer and slid it into place over Peridot’s elbow.

Peridot stared at it in wonder and slowly flexed her floating fingers. She practiced actions she hadn’t performed in nearly two years now, forming her screen and swiping through different windows. As she remembered how to make tractor beams and form a blaster, 5XL headed away, leaving her alone with her thoughts and pangs of guilt.


	10. Third and Final Flashback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot has to choose between Lapis and her eyes.

Over the next few days or so–it was hard to judge the passage of time–Peridot was subjected to all kinds of torture. Though she tried to resist, she inevitably gave in towards the end, and her betrayals became guilt that built up exponentially. Still, she had refused to betray Lapis, each time offering up a different alternative. 

Now she had a full set of limb enhancers and no more alternatives.

If she could have, she would have paced around the room. But while she was now able to sit up, she was still partially attached to the chair. She could completely turn around, though. One turn of the chair brought her facing her old visor. She was surprised it hadn’t been confiscated yet. She brought it over with a tractor beam and saw that while it was split in half and the sides were broken, it was still mostly functional. She stored it in her gem. Maybe she would able to repair it and use it to replace the bulky green one she was still stuck with.

As soon as she had turned off her tractor beam, 5XL returned, carrying a wide array of destabilizers. “Tell me about Lapis Lazuli.”

“No,” Peridot replied. “B-but Ruby also has–”

“We have enough information on the others.” 5XL leaned in close to Peridot and removed Peridot’s visor. “Tell me about Lapis.”

Peridot shut her eyes, shaking. “No.”

“Open your eyes.”

Peridot opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry and full of tears, but only a few centimeters from her eyes was an oddly shaped destabilizer. She had no doubt that whatever it did to her eyes would hurt. She shut her eyes again. “No.”

“Your eyes will stay open.”

Peridot whimpered but obeyed. Now 5XL held two items: The destabilizer in one hand and a beautiful visor in the other. “The choice is yours.”

Peridot wanted to shut her eyes again, but she was sure that would land her with even more punishment. “I-I-”

“Choose.” 5XL brought the destabilizer closer. It seemed to be fitted exactly to Peridot’s eyes. Peridot looked at the ground, tears streaking down her cheeks.

5XL lifted Peridot’s chin so that the two were face to face again. She placed the destabilizer over Peridot’s eye. “Five seconds.”

Peridot didn’t move.

“Five, four, three, two–”

“Lapis can control water,” Peridot exclaimed, full of even more guilt.

“That tells us nothing.” 5XL removed the destabilizer.

“She just has ordinary Lapis Lazuli powers!” Peridot insisted. “She’s just a normal gem who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Frankly, I don’t believe you,” 5XL replied, though she had lowered the destabilizer by then.

“Why not?”

“If she’s so ordinary, why did you spend so long avoiding telling us anything about her?”

Peridot shifted uncomfortably. “Um… she’s also good at making meepmorps.”

“What is a meepmorp?”

“It’s like music, but with things.”

“What is music?”

“It’s an earth thing. Have I told you enough?”

“I must consult my superior.” 5XL marched out of the room.

Peridot breathed a sigh of relief and shut her eyes. Maybe she would be able to get away with minimal betrayal this time.

5XL returned some time later. “I suppose this is sufficient information for the moment. But be prepared to answer further questions later.” Then 5XL placed the visor over Peridot’s eyes.

The world burst into technological color, with overlays covering almost the entire screen and options everywhere. There were options to adjust nearly every characteristic. Peridot set it to the default for now. Then she paused. Why was she still calling herself Peridot? She was surrounded by Peridots now. She wasn’t special. 

She summoned her screen again and changed the identification tags on her visor and her limb enhancers. 5XL smiled, seeing the changes.

“Welcome back, 5XG. Now follow me for your first assignment.”

5XG nodded, was freed from her chair, and headed down to the Peridot main room. It was time to capture the Crystal Gems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flashbacks are done. Back to the main story tomorrow.


	11. Is She Still There?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis tries to make Peridot remember.

The Crystal Gems dropped from the window. They tried to run, but they were quickly overrun by Amethyst and Ruby guards. Lapis tried to fly but was snatched from the air by one of the Amethysts. Shaking slightly at the memory of the last time she was snatched in mid-flight, she collapsed to the ground then leaned on the wall beside Steven.

A moment later, Peridot, Amethyst, and Pearl emerged from the Quartz Training Room. Amethyst was clutching a gem destabilizer aimed vaguely at Pearl with a shaking hand. Peridot, her expression cold, dismissed the guards with a wave of a floating hand and then turned to the prisoners.

“Crystal Gems.” Peridot wrinkled her nose in disgust. “You thought you were free, didn’t you?”

“Peridot,” Lapis gasped, “why are you doing this?”

“We are surrounded by Peridots,” Peridot replied. “Now listen to everything I say, or one of them will be shattered.” Peridot gestured to Amethyst’s destabilizer, which was pointed to Pearl’s neck, then lifted a second one to Amethyst’s chest. 

“But-” Lapis began, trying to reason with her former barnmate, hoping she could bring her back to their side. 

“Silence!” Peridot interrupted. “Do you want to survive this?”

“Just shatter me,” Pearl whispered to Amethyst. “It will save us all.”

“No,” Amethyst muttered, “I’m the one who should go.”

“Silence!” Peridot screeched.

The gems exchanged glances. They quickly came to a decision: Rush Peridot, disarm her, and then escape.

Garnet spoke. “Now.”

Peridot reached for her destabilizer, suspicious, when she was knocked to the ground by a punch from Garnet. Steven launched his shield at Peridot, keeping her down. Lapis took a deep breath and prepared to strike, but Peridot quickly formed her blaster in defense. As soon as the gems backed off, Peridot set her destabilizer next to Amethyst’s gem. “That is your final warning. No more attacks.”

Lapis muttered, “Peridot, don’t you remember everything they did for you? Everything we did together?” A flash of light caught her eye: Peridot’s visor had begun to glow. A moment later, it stopped. “Peridot, what happened to your visor?”

“What do you mean?” Peridot asked sharply, appearing to have not noticed the change.

“It blinked,” Amethyst commented.

“Visors do not blink,” Peridot replied. “Now, let’s get on with it. You all must return to your cells.”

The gems began to trudge to the cells, Pearl and Amethyst in the back with Peridot. Lapis glanced over her shoulder a few times, waiting for the flash of light again.

It came. Lapis whirled around. “Peridot, I think you’re still in there.”

Peridot reached towards Amethyst with the destabilizer again, Lapis batted it out of the air with a water wing. Peridot raised her blaster. “Keep walking.”

“Whatever they did to you must have been awful,” Lapis continued, “but you can’t have forgotten all of what happened on Earth.” Hands shaking slightly, Lapis began to form a water clone of Peridot.

Peridot raised her blaster. The water clone did the same. The two fired at each other and Lapis watched Peridot fall to the ground. The water clone appeared unharmed. 

Lapis rushed over and knelt beside Peridot. “You have to remember.”

Peridot began to stand. “I remember that you are a traitor to Homeworld.”

Lapis engulfed Peridot in a cage of water, feeling more and more desperate. “You aren’t part of Homeworld anymore. You made yourself the leader of the Crystal Gems!”

Peridot raised her screen and began to type out a message to summon the guards, using her other hand to blast through the cage. Lapis kept adding water to the cage, but she knew she would run out eventually. Peridot stood slowly, pushing at the ceiling of her cage and stretching the water’s limits. Lapis barely kept it held together.

“You’re wrong.” Peridot turned to Amethyst. “Shatter them. Shatter them all.”

Amethyst dropped the destabilizer. “No.”

“Very well.” Peridot lifted the destabilizer and sent it plunging towards Pearl’s chest. 

Lapis let out a hollow scream, snatched the destabilizer out of the air, and lunged towards Peridot. She gripped the other gem’s face in her hands, and in desperation, planted a kiss on her lips.

The world seemed to freeze.


	12. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally time for the gems to escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suicide and major character death warning

5XG’s eyes widened. Why was Lapis Lazuli–Lazuli–Lapis… her head was spinning and everything seemed to have stopped.

Peridot fell to the ground. “Lapis! I-I’m sorry!”

“Peridot!” Lapis embraced the fallen gem. “You’re back!” She backed off. “Your visor is glowing again.”

“That’s not normal.” Peridot quickly pulled off the visor and examined it. On the side were many codes she didn’t recognize. But there was one in the middle that she definitely had seen before: N1-R4, the code for 

“Mind control,” she whispered. “And probably bugged, too.” Lapis gasped beside her. She continued. “That explains a lot.”

“I believe that’s a position tracker.” Pearl gestured to the corner of the visor.

“Smash this.” Peridot handed it to Lapis.

Lapis slammed a huge column of water against it, cracking it into an array of tiny pieces. Peridot breathed a sigh of relief, then paused. “They’ll probably still be able to see the last signal, so we need to work fast.” Peridot dug her old visor out of her gem and tried to put it on. It wouldn’t stay on her face, so she held half of it. “There’s an escape pod that way.”

The gems all hurried in the direction Peridot had indicated. Behind them, they could hear footsteps, though they were not sure whether that was someone pursuing them.

Finally, they came to the exit. Peridot quickly typed in a code to unlock the pod, then they inspected it.

“This hasn’t had a safety examination for 50 years,” Peridot groaned.

“That means they probably won’t check here though?” Lapis hoped.

“Maybe. I should probably run a quick diagnostic check.” Peridot hovered over the screen. “For Steven’s sake.”

“We don’t have time,” Garnet interrupted. “The guards are on their way.”

Peridot sighed and drew back her hand. She swiped to view some statistics. “Alright, besides the fact that we don’t know that it won’t fall apart in mid-flight, it should be good to–” She froze, eyes widening.

“What’s wrong?” Lapis was concerned.

“Capacity.” Peridot flipped to the next, more detailed slide. “Designed to fit a maximum of three gems at a time. Really should only be used for two.”

“What does the interior look like?” asked Lapis.

Peridot opened the door. “One driver’s seat and two passenger seats.”

“Steven could poof everyone but you or me,” Pearl suggested. “Then one of us can drive home while the rest are in the back. We can bubble and unbubble the gems when we get back to Earth so you know when it’s safe.”

“Let’s try it.” Peridot handed Steven a painless poofing destabilizer. She watched Steven poof Peridot, Garnet, and Amethyst, then turned to Pearl. “It’s been a while since I’ve driven one of these. You should try it.”

Pearl looked a bit uncertain but agreed. “Alright.”

Everything went dark and then Peridot was inside her gem. She made herself comfortable, waiting for the long journey home, and belatedly hoped they had remembered her limb enhancers. She also began to change the diamonds on her outfit to stars.

Then a soft pink glow filled the gem and quickly disappeared. Peridot quickly reformed to see what was wrong–there was no way they were back yet. She formed in the middle of her limb enhancers and quickly pulled them on as she asked, “What happened?”

“Not enough room,” Pearl replied. “There are limits on how many gemstones can be put in. If one gem stays behind, the rest of us can go.”

“I could fly home,” Lapis suggested.

“You have no way of getting out. Once this is gone, the hole seals up.” Peridot swiped to another screen, searching for a way to increase the capacity.

“We need to find another pod,” Pearl concluded.

“No time,” Garnet replied. “Closest pod will cross over the paths of the guards.”

“One of us has to stay behind,” Steven realized. “I’ll do it.”

“No, Steven.” Garnet stopped him. “They’ll kill you.”

“I need to do it for the team!”

“No. You may be the only one who can stop them.”

“Which is why I should stay.”

“Steven, we need you back on Earth,” Pearl interrupted. “Your friends need you. I’ll stay. I’m more valuable since I was part of the revolution.”

“No, P, you can’t stay! They’ll make you serve. And they need you on Earth to stop the temple from falling apart! I should stay. I’m just a deep cut.”

“I’m the one who caused this whole mess,” Peridot interrupted. “I should pay for it.”

“No, Peridot,” Lapis replied. “I don’t want to go back to Earth without you. I should stay and find a way to fly back.”

“Lapis, I don’t want to go back without you!” Peridot countered.

“I’m the only one who’s not–” Steven began.

“No, Steven!” replied the other gems.

“I could stay,” Garnet replied.

“No, they’d split you up,” Steven exclaimed. “And we need you as our leader!”

During this exchange, Peridot had slowly pulled out her shattering destabilizer and aimed it at her gem. Lapis knocked it away. “Peridot, you are not leaving me!”

“It makes the most sense for me to go,” Peridot replied. “You should go back to Earth.”

“I don’t want to go without you.”

“I don’t either.”

“We could stay together. I could try to fly us back.”

“I don’t want to do that to you. Shatter me.”

“No, you shatter me!”

“What if…” Lapis paused, not wanting to give in to Peridot but not wanting to leave her behind, “what if we shattered each other?”

“I don’t want to do that to you.”

“I don’t want to do it to you either! But I don’t want to go back to Earth without you.”

Peridot turned the destabilizer in her hand, feeling its weight. “Fine. Take this, I have another.”

As Lapis tightened her grip around the device, Peridot found the ring inside her gem. She searched for the second shatterer, then saw something that changed her mind. She began to form a plan.

Peridot removed the destabilizer from the ring and gripped it, hiding the label. “I love you, Lapis.”

Lapis’s eyes widened, but she replied, “I-thanks.”

The two stabbed each other and collapsed to the ground. Peridot’s vision began to fray around the edges, but she managed a last smile. “You might hate me for this.”

“For-for what?” Lapis was beginning to fade.

Peridot’s limbs were crumbling. She looked up and made eye contact with Pearl before she croaked out, “for saving you.”

Then her vision chipped into thousands of shards and everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now just the epilogue is left


	13. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst and Pearl comfort Lapis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read somewhere that the three s's of the Crystal Gems are Singing, Sobbing, and Steven. I used two out of the three. Not sure how well the song turned out but I tried.

_One month later_

Lapis stared blankly at the TV. Camp Pining Hearts was on, but she wasn't watching. She'd already seen the episode hundreds of times and it had lost most of its meaning.

She barely noticed when Pearl climbed in beside her. “It's been a month, hasn't it?”

“Yes.” Lapis’s eyes never left the screen.

“I know it’s hard to move on,” Pearl continued, “after someone leaves like that.”

“It's harder when she did it for you,” Lapis replied, voice flat.

“It would be,” Pearl agreed.

“And it’s harder when you’re the one who killed her!” Lapis curled her knees to her chest, resting her face between them.

“She did it because she loved you.”

“I know. That makes it worse.”

The two gems sat next to each other, not speaking. Then a whip appeared next to them and Amethyst climbed up. “Hey, uh, oh, um, am I interrupting something?”

“No,” Lapis sniffed, “go on.”

“No, it’s fine. I can bring tissues if you want.”

Lapis slid off the couch and curled up into a ball. “It’s fine. I’m fine. You don’t need to stay.”

**song begins, sorry if it's cheesy**

“We know you miss her,” Pearl continued awkwardly.

“We miss her too,” Amethyst added.

“And maybe we don’t miss her as much as you do.” Pearl laid a hand on Lapis’s back, then pulled back when Lapis flinched.

“But we want you to know that we’re here for you.” Amethyst knelt beside Lapis.

“It’s easier for you to move on.” Lapis shut her eyes. “You don’t have her shards on your hands.”

“You have to understand,” Pearl replied, kneeling beside Lapis as well. “It wasn't your fault.”

“You didn't know about her plan,” Amethyst added.

“She should’ve let me save her,” Lapis sniffed, tears beginning to leak out of her eyes. “I could have found my way out of there.”

“You would have been caught, and she knew that. She did it because she cared.” Pearl took Lapis’s hand in hers and Lapis looked up.

“We know how hard it is to grieve,” Amethyst added.

“Take a moment and remind yourself to breathe.” Pearl gave Lapis’s hand a squeeze.

“And we know we might not miss her as much as you do,” Amethyst continued.

“But you should know,” Pearl began.

“We’ll always be here for you,” the gems finished in unison.

**song ends**

Lapis looked between Amethyst and Pearl. She wasn’t sure she believed that it would ever get better, but she figured it was nice that they were trying to help. Still, neither of them could bring Peridot back.

“You two should get back to the temple. Garnet and Steven might need you.”  
“Are you sure?” Pearl asked, still concerned.

“Yeah.” Lapis tried to force a smile, but it slid right back off her face.

“You can always talk to us if you need us,” Amethyst reminded her, sliding down off her whip again.

Pearl turned to Lapis. “It’s hard. I’ve had 14 years and I still haven’t fully recovered. You’ll never truly be the same, but it’ll get better. Trust me.”

Lapis nodded mutely, then embraced Pearl in a tight hug. “Thank you,” she whispered, then pulled back. “Now go.”

Pearl waved goodbye, then climbed down from the balcony, leaving Lapis alone again.

Lapis turned off the TV. She needed some sleep.


End file.
